STEWART CHOOSES BLUE JAYS OVER MARLINS

The Marlins hoped to parade a former World Series MVP through Day 2 of their annual organizational meetings today.

That plan fell apart late Monday night, when Dave Stewart turned down their offer to replace Frank Wren as assistant general manager. Stewart instead accepted the same role with the Toronto Blue Jays, one of five teams he pitched for in a standout 15-year career.

"Basically what it comes down to is my familiarity with the Toronto organization and the Toronto area," Stewart, 41, said from his San Diego home.

Stewart spent two seasons with the Blue Jays, pitching them to the 1993 World Series title. He worked the last two years with the San Diego Padres as a special assistant to general manager Kevin Towers. Stewart received the most notoriety for his strong work as Padres pitching coach this season.

Stewart's 16-year-old daughter, Alyse, was a big factor in his decision. Stewart told San Diego reporters he was concerned about South Florida's schools and crime rate. He liked the fact Toronto had just 36 homicides last year in a city of 4 million residents.

"I'm a single parent," Stewart said during the weekend. "If I wasn't a single parent, there's no doubt in my mind it would be Florida."

Wren was named Baltimore Orioles general manager on Oct. 23, and Stewart quickly became a prime focus of the Marlins' search. Stewart flew to South Florida for an interview last Wednesday, and the Marlins offered him the job over the weekend.

Stewart, who also interviewed for the same position in Oakland, never went to Toronto. He had two long phone conversations during the weekend with Blue Jays General Manager Gord Ash.

Stewart, known for his menacing glare and intense mound persona, has said he wants to be a GM by the time he's 45. Several reports had him leaning toward taking the Marlins' job because of the potential that Dave Dombrowski would move up from general manager to the team presidency in the next few years.

"The person [Dombrowski) is grooming is going to be a GM for that organization one day," Stewart told the San Diego Union-Tribune last week.

Dombrowski, who signed a five-year, $5 million contract extension in September, flatly denied the notion that he was planning to move upstairs.

"I don't know where that came from," Dombrowski said Monday. "It has not been presented that way to anybody we talked to about the position."

The Marlins now must resume their search for Dombrowski's top lieutenant. Dombrowski said again Monday he has a list of a dozen names, with three names clearly at the top.

With Stewart out of the picture, outgoing Cleveland Indians executive Dan O'Dowd has become another top available candidate. O'Dowd, director of baseball operations for the Indians, is preparing to leave the organization after 11 years.

Indians owner Richard Jacobs did not appreciate O'Dowd interviewing for the Orioles GM job last month. Jacobs revoked a five-year, $1.5 million contract extension he had given O'Dowd.

O'Dowd, 39, will interview this week with the Colorado Rockies for their assistant GM position.

Earlier Monday, prospective Marlins owner John Henry was on hand to meet some of the 80-plus club employees who gathered at the Marina Marriott for the first day of organizational meetings.

"The mood is kind of like starting over," said Adrian "Smokey" Garrett, promoted from Triple-A hitting coach to minor-league hitting coordinator. "With a new staff, a few new coaches, it's going to be nice."

Joining Garrett in coordinator roles are Bob Natal (catching), Manny Crespo (infield), Pookie Wilson (baserunning and outfield) and Brian Peterson (performance enhancement). Five of the six coordinators are newly named, with four jobs vacated when new Marlins manager John Boles filled his major-league staff with in-house promotions.

The Marlins have also filled all but two of their 21 minor-league coaching and managerial positions. At least 12 staffers will be in new roles, including four brought in from outside the organization (see chart).

They have an offer pending for a prospective Double-A manager but are still awaiting his decision.

"It's a very exciting time right now for us," said Rob Leary, who as director of field operations will assume most of Boles' former responsibilities as player-development director. "Most of the promoting we've done is from within. This is a great opportunity for everybody."